


It’s Nice To Have A Friend

by freddinnuendo



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: M/M, NOT A SET TIMELINE, NOT proofread i’m so sorry, but as I said, double posted on wattpad, i’m super lazy, jer bulsara is a sweetheart, john and freddie are just soft for eachother, lillian deacon is also a sweetheart, my brain messes up with timelines so just imagine whatever timeline you want, non caps is on purpose!, pure fluff, quite a good stress reliever, this is pure fluff so it’s a good stress reliever!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 04:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20942099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freddinnuendo/pseuds/freddinnuendo
Summary: John Deacon had always been a naturally anxious lad, much preferring to stay cooped up in his room staring at the wall than going out to parties with his classmates... and so, his mother introduces him to the boy who lives across the road, Freddie, and hopes that the two boys will establish a close and lasting friendship.but, what lillian didn’t know was that this would potentially turn into something more.





	It’s Nice To Have A Friend

john deacon was naturally a very quiet and reserved individual, preferring to eat alone in his room rather with his family (they all know it wasn't out of arrogance as they were all aware of john's anxiety) and preferring to stay indoors during the whole six week summer holiday break than meet up with friends in the local park (not like he had many friends to choose from, anyways. apart from veronica, but she had other, more interesting friends. why would she pick john over her plethora of fun, outgoing mates?).

lillian and arthur deacon were of course worried for their only son but he had been this way since forever. he was still his mothers little baby, what some people liked to call a 'smother'... she called her john, a 16 year old boy, her 'shmoopy', which thoroughly pissed the teenager off.

julie deacon, john's sister, was quite the opposite. she was a night owl and a very sociable girl. she had tons of friends, whom of which she met up with almost every weekend. john didn't know what she exactly did over the weekend with her friends, but just the thought of it made him feel so anxious he felt physically sick. they were complete polar opposites, the only real similarities being they had the same nose, hair colour and parents.

john loved his sister dearly, though. he could always talk to her about anything. it wasn't very often that he did take her up on that. he mostly went to veronica, ronnie, these days, but that didn't say that julie didn't mean any less to him. when they were kids they were inseparable. whatever julie did, john did too. wherever julie went, john went too. whoever julie met at playgroup, john met too. they were each-others rock.

veronica was his other rock. he met her during his first year of high school. his nerves were off the charts that day, and it so happened that he dropped all of his books on the way to first period science class. ronnie, being the angel she is, helped him pick them all up and she even offered to carry them to class for him, but he politely declined. turned out she was in his group anyways.

with john being super quiet and private around his family, they didn't really know about ronnie. its not like he was hiding her from them, he just didn't... talk much. however, ronnie once said that sometimes she couldn't get him to shut up so he concluded that once you cracked his outside layer of shyness and mystery, he was an alright bloke.

john had never had a girlfriend. or a boyfriend, for that matter. he wasn't really too sure on his sexuality and all that messy stuff, all he knew that he wouldn't be completely opposed to having a relationship with boys. did that make him gay? bisexual? he really didn't have a clue.

he had only been kissed once, which was a little two second peck with veronica. it was quite a funny story, really. they had been sat in her room one day, one of the rare occasions where john forced himself out of the house to at least have a start at a social life, and ronnie simply asked him if he had been kissed before. he shook his head and before he knew it, she was asking if he wanted to kiss her, and, not wanting to hurt ronnie's feelings, he nodded, and she placed a little kiss on his lips.

let's just say john freaked out and ran out the room, refused to speak to ronnie for a month straight, and when he finally sucked it up and approached her, she assured him that she didn't like him that way at all, and that she liked this other dude called lucas something... that little crush obviously didn't last long considering john couldn't even remember his surname.

and so, with john's parents not even knowing much about veronica, only being aware of the fact that her and john hung out sometimes at school rather than every day, it didn't surprise the boy that his mother was trying to pressure him into agreeing to meet another boy who she assured he would 'get along very nice with!'

john, however, was having none of it.

"mum, this makes me look super sad. i'm not a total loner!" john tried to convince his mother with a pleading look in his eyes. it wasn't exactly a lie. he had veronica, after all. but lillian didn't know that.

"honey, you spend the majority, if not all your time cooped up in that sodding room if yours, feeling sorry for yourself because you have no friends when you're not even trying to make friends!" the older woman said sternly. she refrained from raising her voice though, knowing that would just freak john out even more.

"that's not true! i have veronica!" john whined, pouring milk into his bowl of kelloggs cornflakes. he passed it over to his father, who wasn't taking part in this conversation.

"remind me of who veronica is again, honey?" - john rolled his eyes in response.

"the girl you met not long ago! the pretty one with the long dark hair.. my friend?" he insisted, scooping up a generous amount of cornflakes drenched in milk and shoving it into his mouth.

lillian took a minute to think before she nodded, suddenly recognising the young girl john called his best friend.

"but don't you think it would be good for you to have a boy best friend? i mean, you'd get along much better. you might have the same interests?" john's mum tried to reason with her son, but it was obvious that john was shaking at the thought of being introduced to someone brand new and everyone expecting them to get along just perfectly

"mum.. you know i don't like meeting new people."  
suddenly arthur chimed in.

"that's no good for the future, is it son? you need to get used to meeting new people. how are you going to become a successful electrician when you don't like meeting new people...customers?"

of course his dad only cared about the others john would be affecting with his heavy anxiety. john didn't want to break it to him that he didn't really imagine him being a full-time electrician in the future so he just sat quiet. he didn't want to disappoint his dad more than he had already done.

his father had never really took an interest in him ever since he was born, which baffled john, who knew about how excited his dad was when his wife was pregnant. john couldn't help but think he did something wrong, that the reason his relationship with his father was tearing at the seams was because he was a disappointment. a crazy, anxious, nervous disappointment.

john would never have the guts to say this to his dad's face, so he kept a neutral tone and averted his eyes to the table in front of him, refusing to make eye contact with his glaring father.

"y-you're right." john stuttered.

john's mother lifted his chin with her soft fingers, forcing him to meet his eyes with her kind ones. john had always preferred his mum by a long shot. without her, john didn't know what he'd be doing or who he would be. he'd probably be mute.. his mother had been his voice all the way through his childhood and now teenage years. 

"don't worry about it my love. you're going to conquer the world with that incredible brain of yours- i know you are."

lillian had believed in her son since the very second he was born.

"thanks mum."

not long after, the kitchen was overtook by silence again which could only be described as awkward. john was slowly feeding himself his cornflakes as he looked over at his dad, reading the newspaper with a careful eye, hand slightly raised which held a cup of tea close to his lips.  
arthur henry was a confusing creature. he didn't talk much at all and so john concluded he inherited that trait off his father. but, everytime john was silent, his dad scolded him, so in conclusion, arthur henry was a massive hippocrite.

john assumed his dad had brought up some phlegm considering he brought a bucket up to his mouth, shook his jaw and spat into said bucket, shaking his head afterwards and putting the spit stained plastic down under the table. john grimaced, having to avert his eyes from his dad (who was still making weird movements with his mouth).

"arthur! no spitting at the table, darling," john's mother spoke up, spooning her own cereal into her mouth, following it up with a generous gulp of her smooth orange juice. the older man just rolled his eyes at his wife, returning to his newspaper. john predicted that he had just been staring at the page with the naked ladies on all morning. it certainly wouldn't surprise him.

john lost himself in his thoughts again. that's what he did most of the time. when cooped up in his room, most people would expect him to be asleep or doing something more productive. but, he was actually (the majority of the time) staring blankly at the wall, thinking up situations which would never happen in real time or real life. he would think of all sorts of things: books, creatures, movies, art.. people. 

he thought about people most of the time. he was an excellent observer. when walking down the street he enjoyed to peer into people's windows, gazing upon other people's lives and judging their characters on the decor in their living rooms.. he wasn't a creep or anything. the gazes never lasted more than two seconds, but in those two seconds, john deacon was able to think up the most beautiful and extravagant things.

when sat in his bedroom window at the front of the house, he would peer down at all the people who passed by. he liked to make up life stories for them. 

along came a man in a suit. the suit was fashionable but it had been worn down alot. upon his head was an antique hat made out of leather and on his wrist sat a maroon bracelet, like a friendship bracelet.  
john made up a quick summary of his character and wrote it down in his special little journal, decorated with thought bubbles, little musical notes and a little sketch of a bass guitar. 

17th april  
a man walks by the window in a suit with a hat on his head and a bracelet hung on his arm. it was clasped quite tightly so this may mean the bracelet means a lot to him.  
the bracelet was giving to him by his mother as she left the man's father for another man. he never let the bracelet leave his sight.  
the leather hat was something he bought himself in a charity shop. maybe for his birthday? its a nice hat either way.  
maybe the man is looking for someone. he crosses the road in a hurry, looking backwards and forwards.  
maybe the man isn't looking for anyone at all. his parents failed relationship gave him a false sense of love. he had never kept a girlfriend for more than a month.  
the man is now jogging up the street. i cant see him anymore. like he evaporated from existence. or, from the little parallel existence in my head.

currently, john was thinking about a painting he saw on a school trip in a little museum about five years ago. he didn't know why he suddenly remembered every stroke on that canvas at that very moment, but it wasn't unusual for him. his mind could think up random things very fast. he was a dreamer. a big one, in fact. sometimes he got lost in his dreams.

the doctor his mum made him see two years ago said it was nothing to worry about, that john was just a teenager and his hormones were playing with his mind. it was normal for kids his age to get lost in their thoughts.

the painting was of two people. one was a little boy it seemed and the other was an older woman. the little boy hand his hand delicately laying on the woman's shoulder whilst fiddling with her hair on the side of her head, staring at her in complete wonder. john felt like he was the little boy when analysing the people he saw walking by and the families he saw eating dinner in their living room as he passed by their houses; looking for something new to find. something so utterly beautiful and powerful.

a sharp snap of fingers close to his face scared john out out of his thoughts. "john! concentrate! your mother is talking to you!" his dad roared, staring at his son like he was absolutely mad. bonkers.

john just nodded anxiously and turned to look at his worried mum. he had only just noticed that she was gripping onto john's hand so tight it physically hurt. he tried to send her a message to let go by wiggling his fingers, but she only gripped harder.

"so? what do you say, honey?" lillian asked john, not tearing her eyes away from him in a second.

"what do i say to what? sorry, mum, i spaced out again."  
"i know you did, honey. it isn't your fault-"  
john's father grunted with amusement in the background as he heard his wife say that.  
lillian just gave him a scornful look before returning to her son, who was still staring at her, eyebrow raised, lip quivering.

"-it's about what i was explaining earlier. about perhaps meeting that boy who lives over the road and gaining a new friend. he looks nice enough." she explained. john listened, even though he could feel the anxiety eating him up and devouring him inside at the thought of introducing himself to someone completely new.

"i-i don't know mum."  
"oh john sweetheart, please. please, do it for me. it absolutely breaks my heart seeing you sat in that room all day, speaking to nobody, shutting yourself from the world. go make a new friend, johnny. do it for me?"

john thought about it for a long while. he made a list of pros and cons in his jumbled mind.  
his mum was right. he did sit in his room for hours on end, only the silence accompanying him.  
he was 17 years old for gods sakes. he agreed with his mum when she said he needed to involve himself with more friends and get out of the house more often. build up a social life. john wouldn't be opposed to that if it wasn't for his crippling anxiety.

or maybe john was just over-reacting? he had lived most of his life afraid of meeting new people because he was scared of speaking to his own father, never mind strangers. however, john just couldn't get used to the thought of knocking on the boy's door over the road, introducing himself and so on.

john was a weird kid. as soon as the boy over the road noticed his dreaming spells he would discard him on the side of the road like roadkill. even ronnie scolded him when he blanked once, but that was ages ago, before she knew that he did it often. he forgave her.

but, as the young seventeen year old looking his pleading mother in the eyes, he didn't have the heart to turn her down once more. he had disappointed her too many times. he couldn't image how embarrassing it must be to have a son who cried his eyes out at family affairs, retreating to the bathroom for the majority of the event. she was too good for him. he didn't deserve her. she deserved a son who could be there for her, protect her, defend her. she didn't need to be worried sick over her 17 year old son all the time. he needed to suck it up and 'become a real man', as his father screamed at him once after he delivered a hard slap across john's face for not only spacing out, but for speaking and mumbling to himself at the dinner table.

lillian kicked him out of the house for a week after that incident, but took him back of course. you deserve so much better, mama, john thought on a daily, no, hourly basis.

he also took a look at his father who was still reading his paper. he hadn't even bothered to look up.  
john knew that his father had a rough childhood. he hadn't received nearly any love during his child years, his dad being a drunk and his mother being mentally unwell to the point where she was admitted to a mental asylum two hours away from her home.

arthur's mother, john's grandma, had went through incredible trauma's in her lifetime. john had only seen pictures of his grandmother and in every single picture she was smiling effortlessly. she had short, curly platinum blonde hair and a smooth complexion. how could a woman who seemed so happy seem so sad? - she reminded him alot of the late marilyn monroe. she looked like her, too.  
that's when john got fascinated in knowing people's life stories and when he started making them up for them in his mind. 

maybe the reason was why john's father didn't show him any affection was because he hadn't experienced affection when he was a young lad, too? thats what everyone else said, anyways. john just thought he was an embarrassment and that everything was his fault. that he was the reason why his dad opened his first can of beer at 12:30pm and drank right through till 2am, screaming at his family in the process. he had never hurt any of them except for the time he slapped john, so john counted himself lucky. 

looking back into his mum's watery eyes, john found himself nodding slowly.  
"okay, mum. ill do it. for you. but i-i wont like it. at all. h-he'll hate me, i know he will."

lillian smiled sadly at john. "don't be silly, shmoopy. he won't hate you. he seems rather lovely."

♛

just because john said he would go over to the other boys house and meet him, he didn't mean he'd do it straight away. he would happily see how long he could put it off for until his mum stepped in and forced him to do it. it was like a fun little game, and john was interested in how it all turned out.

instead, john returned to his bedroom, just like he had done for the past couple years, sat on the window ledge and gazed at the scenery in front of him. it was a bank holiday monday so there weren't very many cars on the roads,  
only the odd few coming every five, ten minutes.

john adored bank holiday monday's... no school. no people. the streets and the rest of the uk were empty, all quiet, just how john liked it. he had never really been in a loud environment. he often wondered what it was like. partying every night? drinking every night? smoking every night? john admitted he had took one of his dad's cigarettes once and took one drag and coughed that shit back up. not again. 

he sat on his window ledge and set his eyes upon two boys who were walking up the road. he ran to grab his journal and a black biro and he got to writing.

august 10th  
two boys. both pretty. one has a sense of elegance surrounding them and the other one has a more wild aura. 

the one on the left is quite... not scary but intimidating. he walks like he owns the world. nobody can tell him what to do. he's a hit with the ladies. he walked into a bar one night, got a few compliments and boom, is in a bed. he didn't have a very good relationship with his parents, i don't think. i don't know why i think this, but he looks quite shy underneath the whole persona. i can see myself in him a tiny winy bit. only to do with the parent thing. im the complete opposite otherwise. 

the other one walks with absolute..power? he isnt afraid of anyone or anything. but i can also tell there's something more about him. he clings onto the other boy with such strength, like he doesn't want to let go.  
had people let him go before? just discarded him? he has loadsa rings. maybe the other boy got him one of those rings? i think they're best friends.  
looks like he drunk beer one day, despised it, went onto wine and then champagne because it makes him feel classier. he knows it can be considered camp.

the two boys walked up the street until they disappeared from john's vision. he put away his journal and pen and forgot all about them. 

every person he had seen and wondered about was recorded in that journal. nobody knew about it apart from john's sheep teddy, larry. he would sometimes show larry his journal, pointing out his favourite stories and some of the doodles in the book. he had had larry since he was two years old. his grandpa (mother's side) gave larry to baby john, and john had never let go of him. 

hours passed and john didn't really move from his spot on the window. he had seen many people pass but none of them seem interesting enough to document and write about as rude as that sounds, and so he just left them.

it came to around 7:30pm before john turned his head and saw another boy walking down the street. as john squinted, it was obvious that it was one of the boys he had seen earlier, the elegant one, only he was along this line. he passed under a streetlight and john focused on his features. he got out his leather journal and picked up his black biro and did something that he didn't usually do, but he enjoyed doing all the same. 

instead of writing a whole description, he wrote down bullet points which he thought matched nicely to the boy.

•elegant, obviously  
•classy  
•unafraid  
•...quite camp. but i like that.  
•very pretty  
•mysterious, like the song 'rhiannon' by fleetwood mac. i doubt his name is rhiannon tho.  
•out of the ordinary  
•own person  
•very beautiful

before john could add anything else, the boy entered his house and closed the door softly behind him. his house was on the other side of the road so john could see a bedroom light up on the second floor. the boys bedroom? he couldn't tell. the curtains were shut. he wouldn't dare look into his bedroom anyways. that's creepy creepy.

it was very dark outside so john was very surprised when the boy's neighbours front door opened and another boy stepped out. john knew his name, david. john had seen his mum talking to david not that long ago, so it was ideal that john looked down at the boy who his mother wanted him to be friends with so badly.

john had never uttered a word to david and he didn't particularly want to either. he seemed plain, boring. a party animal. heck, he was probably on his way to a party right now. he scared john a little, and even now when john had seen what he looked like properly, his opinion hadn't changed. he was buff and that intimidated john a LOT. but, his mum said that he seemed like a nice lad, and so he trusted her judgement. his mum would never lie to him. 

john, still looking over david as he climbed into a car (probably his dads) and zoomed off into the night, music blasting. actually mum, he seems like a right prick. 

he climbed off of the window ledge having known that nobody was going to come down the street at this hour. he practically dived into his unmade bed, not bothering to change into his PJ's from the overgrown jumper he was currently spotting, and brung larry into a tight hug immediately. then, john pulled the duvet onto his figure and lifted his head slightly. he took larry's arm and placed it under his neck and he nuzzled his face into his teddy's throat.

he drifted off to sleep right afterwards.

♛

john hadn't sat in his window for a good two days, which was surprising for him. instead, he had been sat downstairs, provided his dad wasn't there.

"im so proud of you shmoopy." lillian cooed, taking her sons cheeks and pinching them softly to which john groaned and tilted his head away from his mother's grip.

"don't act like i never ever see you guys. i always come downstairs."  
"for like two minutes." julie decided to butt in. it was one of those rare days where she didn't meet up with her group of millennial mates so she took to the living room sofa, watching reruns of the simpsons and coronation street. 

john rolled his eyes, sat back into the chair and checked the time. 3:24pm. dad would be home in six minutes. he was already planning his escape route. 

as soon as you hear the latch being turned on the front door, slowly stand up with mum to go 'greet' dad but then take a right and head upstairs instead. easy peasy lemon squeezy. you can sit in your window then!

"i hope you're still willing to see that boy over the road. you've been putting it off, sweetie, i know you have."

"there's no need to see him. i already have. i saw him when i was sat in the window the other day. he looks like a twat."  
julie snorted with laughter at john's use of the word 'twat'.

"john! language!" - this time john snorted with laughter.

"im sorry, but he does. he was getting into a car and he drove off, revving the engine and everything. who revvs nowadays?" he directed the question to his sister, who had recovered from her little laughing fit.

"twats." she answered, earning a scowl from the elder woman. john immediately pointed at his sister, looking his mum in the eye as if to say 'exactly! twats!'

"don't be so judgemental, john. you've never even spoke to the poor boy. i have never even seen him get into a car!"  
"well i have"  
julie laughed again. it seemed that she was only there to snigger at john, which he didn't mind of course. the fact that he could make people laugh reminded him that he wasn't just some crazy alien boy stuck in his mind 24/7. that he was real. life is real. 

lillian folded her arms. "look, john. please give this lad a chance. he seems so so nice, i approve! he's very funny too, actually. you're polar opposites and it goes quite nicely. i think you'd both get along, honey."

john reached forward to grab a handful of ready salted crisps that were in a marble bowl on the high coffee table in front of the threesome.  
"i never said i wasn't going to do it. i just said he seems like a bit of a t-"  
"dont you dare finish that sentence john richard!"  
"i was going to say 'tart'"  
there was a pause.  
"don't say that word either."

and then, not even a second later, john heard the latch shift slowly. it was time to retreat to his window.  
"that'll be your father." lillian announced to her children whilst lifting herself up from the sofa to say hello to her husband. john joined her, earning a raised eyebrow and look of confusion from his younger sister, to which he nodded his head upwards, silently saying 'im going back upstairs'.  
julie mouthed 'i might join you' and john smiled up to his eyes and nodded.

as john and lillian reached the hallway, john took a right and near enough bolted upstairs. his father didn't notice this, of course, as he couldn't care less about his son or his wellbeing, and he headed into the kitchen to grab his first can of beer of the day. since it was 3pm, three hours late of his usual 12pm drink, the family knew that arthur would be drinking much heavier tonight. it was a scary thought.

john raced into his bedroom and shut the door, trying to make as little noise as he could. he immediately went to sit on his window ledge, his journal and biro pen sat on his lap, ready to he picked up and used any minute.

loads of people passed and that meant loads of analyses were constructed.

august 12th  
~ single mother with four children, all with different fathers. all four men had left her as soon as she announced her pregnancy to them. no wonder she looks so gloomy. kinda wanna give her a hug. 

~ twat that reminds me of the other twat. i shouldn't be so judgemental but i cant help it. this man had a fanny pack!!! who has fanny packs these days?! nobody! i cant even think of a life analysis for him. just a twat.

~ old man with a cane. he looks like a war hero but he has a terrible frown. maybe he met the love of his life during said war. plushed red lips, lovely smile, generous, caring, sweet. maybe he lost her? maybe she left him or maybe she died? he is very melancholy. 

as john was looking out for another person, there were three gentle taps on his door. he told said tapper to 'come in' and julie appeared, a soft smile on her face.

"hey you." he whispered.  
"hello?" he whispered back. julie noticed the questioning tone and frowned a little.  
"i can go if you're busy or you don't want me here, it's no biggie."  
her elder brother shook his head. "no! come in. you're always welcome here."

she strolled into his room and joined her brother on the window ledge. "this is a nice view you have. look, you can see the big hills in the distance!"  
john laughed at his sister's sense of awe and darted his eyes up and down the streets. a comfortable silence passed between the two siblings. this was an incredibly important moment for the both of them. they never really got chance to hang out just the two of them, since julie preferred hanging with her friends and john preferred... hanging with the strangers he saw strolling up and down outside his house. 

"whatcha doing?" the silence was broke by the girl, looking over his shoulder, attempting to peer inside his sacred notebook.

john wondered if he should tell her. she was his sister, after all. what could go wrong?

she could tell all her friends  
who could then tell everyone at school  
then he'd be bullied forever  
then he wouldn't ever go to school due to bullying  
fuck up his exams  
never get a job  
never get a career  
die young

yeah. john realised he was being a little dramatic.  
"i like to watch people from my window and write little stories about them. look." he gave her the book and flicked through the pages, each one filled with words and phrases and even little doodles, mostly of bass guitars (john really wanted to learn bass)

julie took the journal and went to the most recent page, her eyes scanning over her brothers messy and jumbled writing. she touched the page with her fingertips and looked up to meet her eyes with his.  
"how long have you been doing this for?"  
she asked.

"a couple years. dad shouted at me once so i came up here and sat in the window. i saw a homeless woman sat on the street and decided to write about her. that was on a separate piece of paper though so i lost it."  
julie nodded and went back to reading.

"what's this one?" she pointed at the page. john leaned over his sisters shoulder and took a quick look at the date. it was from two days ago. he looked at the writing. aha. it was of the two boys he saw walking down the street. a blonde one and a raven haired one.

"that ones about two boys i saw two days ago, walking down the street. they seemed nice." he explained. julie just smirked.

"seems like you have a little crush on the elegant one with loadsa rings," she smiled. julie knew he wasn't straight. he was pretty sure she knew before he knew because she didn't act too surprised when he told her on a whim one day. she just shrugged and said 'okay', which john was incredibly thankful for. he didn't know what he would have done without his sister. even though she was younger than him, she still felt like a big sister to john. 

"don't be stupid. he was just interesting. he looked quite weird in the... weird stuff he was wearing. alot of silk." john laughed. 

julie's eyes then settled on the next page. "oh." she breathed.  
"what?"  
"you wrote about him again!"  
"yes but that was only in bulletpoints. it doesn't count. i'll never write about the same person twice."  
"but you did with this boy!" she near enough screamed.  
"shut up!!" john whisper yelled, placing his pointer finger across her lips.  
"ive wrote about people once and then again with bulletpoints all the time! look!" he flicked to a previous page only to reveal a two page spread on a sad young man carrying an iced latte. hipster, he wrote. he then wrote down tons of hipster stereotypes on the next page.

the two of them sat laughing together. it was moments like these that john absolutely cherished. he just wish he could get more of these moments but he understood that julie had her own life, her own friends. she knew people way more interesting than her weird, silent, hideaway brother and he knew that.

john told his sister to hush down a little bit as he turned his head to gaze out the window again. it was silent for a few minutes until the front door of the house over the street opened up. out stepped was the boy with the loadsa rings and fancy clothing. john smiled himself, his eyes not leaving the boy, who was now heading up the street once again, this time in the other direction. john wanted to write about him again but he knew that'd look way too weird.

"that's the boy, isn't it?!" julie shrieked, her eyes also set on the moving figure.  
john nodded. "how did you know?"  
"i saw his loadsa rings and his silk cardigan. and he looked quite elegant, as you like to put it." she replied, still smirking at her older brother who gave her a gentle shove with his shoulder.

as the boy exited the two's vision, john stood up from the window ledge and went to go lie in his bed on top of the covers. julie followed soon after, jumping to join her older brother on the bed, folding her arms over her stomach. 

"i love you, jules." he sighed. "thank you."  
julie just chuckled and slapped him on the arm playfully. "stop being such a sap, will you?" - john laughed with her and turned on the little tv on the wall. they both sat in silence, watching the tv in peace, julie's head laying on john's shoulder and john's head resting upon julie's.

as he was watching the tv, john's wandered to the other boy who his mother wanted to meet. perhaps that boy couldn't be so bad? maybe he was a little too quick to jump to conclusions. but that was normal to him, with him being a naturally anxious person. he was only looking out for himself. he was very wary on who he got close to. that's why he was literally only friends with ronnie and his sister, as sad as that sounded. 

his mum was right. he did need a boy best friend. he was constantly surrounded by girls except for his dad, and his dad was the exact opposite of what john wanted to be like when he was older. he needed someone he could really bond with.

the fact that he was surrounded by woman almost 24/7 also didn't help the fact that john was close enough to being gay. 

♛

julie fell asleep on john's bed the day before so he woke up with an abundance of dark hair in his mouth which he had to choke out. there were some strands still stuck in there so he had to wash his mouth out at the sink. he strictly forbid julie from sleeping there again. her hair tasted like old hairspray too, which was disgusting. john was surprised he didn't throw up.

he greeted his mum, who was stood in front of the microwave waiting for her eggs to finish scrambling, and sat down on the kitchen table, reaching out for the carton of apple juice and drinking it straight from the bottle, earning him a strict telling off from his mother.

"guess what mum?" john started, mouth full of jam toast.  
"what, john?" she replied, adding a sprinkle of salt to her scrambled eggs and taking a seat across from the teenager.  
"i'm gonna go meet that lad over the road-"  
he calmly told her, and her eyes widened drastically. "-but, only if you come to the front door with me. i can't do that alone." john told her, and she nodded frantically.

"of course i will, shmoopy. of course." - lillian looked as if she was going to break down in tears. 

"and mum?"  
"yes?"  
"please don't call me shmoopy in front of him."

♛

"you ready?" lillian asked her son, who was shaking at an alarming rate. she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. she could feel him slowly nod into her chest and she pulled him away, holding him at arms length whilst rubbing up and down his arms.

"you'll be just fine, john. he's gonna love you."  
"he doesn't seem like a very loving person. seems like a twat." john reused the word he knew his mum despised, just to irritate her a little tiny bit. she just pushed him away before taking him back in again.

lillian wrapped her arm around john's shoulder, gripping it as they walked from their house to the boys. john quickly realised that they were taking a left towards another house instead of taking a right to go to the boy's house.

this set off alarms in john's head. where is she taking me? i thought she was taking me there? why is she going left? his house is there, on the right!

"mum... m-mum i don't like this." his lip was quivering and lillian just gripped his shoulder hard.  
"remember, darling. take deep breaths, drink plenty. try to have fun."  
john followed his mother's advice, trying to get the annoying little voice screaming inside his head. he thought of things he liked, people he liked, things he enjoyed doing.

window ledge  
julie  
mum  
veronica  
the colour green  
bass guitars  
music  
jimi hendrix  
the beatles  
films

before he knew it, he was stood at a front door. he had been so content on thinking the whole way there he had lost track on where he was. he didn't even remember half the journey to the house. everything looked unfamiliar, and john didn't like unfamiliar.

lillian knocked three times on the door. by the third knock, john had bravely let go of his mum, not wanting to seem like a baby the first time he met this boy and his family.  
two minutes later, john saw the handle of the door being pulled down from the person inside. he held his breath. 

there stood a little lady, probably in her 40s. john could tell she had some indian roots which he found particularly interesting. she seemed warm and kind, especially when she stuck her hand out for john's mum to shake. 

"john! oh, we've been so looking forward to meeting you. i'm jer, farrokh's mother." the lady smiled. john could finally put a name to her face. he also heard another name that was new to him. he guessed it was the name of the other boy his mum had practically begged him to become friends with.

"i-it's nice to meet you." john tried so hard not to stutter, but he had cocked it up again. his mum noticed this, of course, and she placed her right hand on her son's upper back, rubbing it slowly. it calmed john down a little. he was so thankful that his mum agreed to come with him. 

"come in, come in, both of you!" jer cried, waving them into her home. john looked around the hallway. it was very spacious and it had a fun vibe. there were tons of photographs on the walls, all of them black and white. john tried to catch a glimpse of some of them but didn't quite get the chance.

jer led them into their living room, which was a mix of oranges and browns and pale yellows. this family had an incredible taste in furniture. there were also loads of house plants situated around the space.

suddenly, jer's voice broke out. "farrokh! john's here, come say hello!" she shouted, her head facing upwards to the ceiling. the door to the living room had windows with little patterns in, so john could see a distorted version of the stair case. that also meant he could see a distorted version of a boy rushing down the stairs, jumping from the second step onto the floor.

the boy, farrokh, entered the room with a hairbrush in his right hand which he threw onto the sofa, landing next to jer.  
he turned towards john and john could swear that he had seen him before. he looked so familiar. he had raven hair and deep, dark bambi eyes. 

"hello! you must be john." he said, extending his arm to the anxious boy, who stared at the arm for a good minute until he took it, gripping tightly.  
"h-hi, yes that's me. john."  
that's all john could push out at the moment and it earnt him a smile from farrokh.

suddenly, john's mother butted in.  
"hello love, i'm john's mother, lillian." she smiled, going in to shake his hand. there was alot of shaking hands, john thought, laughing silently to himself.

he was shocked to see freddie engulfing his mum in a bear hug. lillian seemed just as shocked as her son, but she soon wrapped her arms around farrokh too, smiling sweetly.

john lost himself in his thoughts for a little moment. this farrokh sure seemed friendly. a little too friendly. i cant imagine ever hugging a stranger. at least he isn't mean, though.

farrokh sat down on the sofa next to john, a little close to the younger boy's liking.  
it didn't take him long to perk up again.

"would any of you lovely people like a cup of tea?" he proposed, john blushing with embarrassment from being referred to one of those 'lovely people'.

"oh yes please, farrokh. you're a sweetheart." lillian replied, resting her palm just above her heart. john looked towards her, tilting his head. 

"john?" the elder boys soft voice called out. john darted his head to him, confused. although he knew what was going on, he never really paid attention to conversation. farrokh must have sensed his confusion because he asked once again. "tea?" john nodded quickly, going back to look back at his lap. the other boy just nodded and headed off to the kitchen to start the kettle.

"you okay, john?" his mum whispered to him. he nodded once again and she pushed his shoulder with hers softly. "why don't you go join farrokh in the kitchen?" she mumbled. john looked at her, fear in his eyes. "please?" she asked.

john just took a deep breath, smiled at jer fondly and raised himself from the sofa. before he reached the kitchen he stood outside the door, trying to calm himself down. you can do it. he seems super nice. 

"oh, hello." farrokh smiled as he noticed john had joined him in the kitchen.  
"hi, farrokh. i'm john." john mumbled. the other boy just extended his smile, letting out a delicate laugh. it surprised john when he realised it wasn't a laugh with a mocking tone. this eased him a little bit.

"i know that, john," he said john's name in a deeper voice, which made the younger boy crack a smile. "but please, call me freddie. i changed it legally but my dear mother over there won't let herself believe that." he winked. john repeated the name in his head.  
freddie, freddie, freddie. easier to pronounce, i guess. i like it. 

"okay. freddie." john slipped to join him at the counter. it was surprising how easy it was to talk to freddie. he hardly knew anything about him of course, so he was still a lot out of his comfort zone, but he wasn't panicking. they were off to a good start.

"could you do me a favour, darling? could you get the milk from the fridge over there?" freddie pointed at the white machine in the far corner of the kitchen. john nodded, quickly going over and grabbing the milk from the fridge door. he placed it back down on the counter and stood back a little, not wanting to annoy freddie by being in his personal space or something. 

"you don't have to be nervous around me, darling. i don't bite. unless you want me to." he winked. this made john blush but also sent off a little bit of a panic. he wasn't used to people wanting to carry on a conversation with him, especially a conversation has a splash of flirting.

freddie could again sense john's feelings, a look of fear spreading over his face. "oh, im sorry john. that was vulgar. im sorry, please forgive me." freddie's words were rushed so it took john a minute to understand what he had said before he shook his head, cracking a grin.

"it's okay, freddie." he reassured the boy, who was now spooning sugar into the cups. it was then that john took a closer look at freddie's hands. he had a lot of funky rings on. some fingers had two or three! and that was when that john realised.  
it was honestly funny how it had taken john this long to figure it out.  
freddie was the elegant boy he had seen walking up and down the street. the boy with the loadsa rings and the raven coloured hair. 

freddie noticed him staring at his hands and he snapped his fingers, causing john to jump a little and look up at freddie.  
"you like my rings, darling? they're magnificent, aren't they?" he held out his arm, flexing his hands to show off the jewellery, one of them flickering due to being in the path of the sunlight drifting through the window.  
john hummed and freddie smiled.

"do you call everyone that? 'darling'?" john wondered. freddie's eyes didn't leave the four cups on the kitchen side before he shrugged his shoulders.  
"most people, but not everyone. i don't call my parents or my sister 'darling' because that's a little peculiar." he laughed. "do you not like it? i'll stop calling you it if it makes you uncomfortable, john." 

"no, no it's fine. and you have a sister? me too!" the brunette told the boy who was now picking up two cups. john picked the other too, carrying them into the living room.

"i do indeed. her name's kash. she's at her friends house at the moment, though." freddie answered, smiling at lillian as he placed her cup down on the little table next to her side of the sofa.

"my sister's called julie. she's at her friends too, i think. i'm not sure."  
freddie hummed. the two of them seemed to forget their mothers were in the room until they both stood up, explaining they were going to have a nice little chat in the next room with some 'much needed white wine'. the thing that shocked john the most was the fact that he didn't feel an ounce of panic. he looked at his mum and smiled as she walked out the room. 

freddie jumped up from the sofa, startling john. "that's your house over there, isn't it?" he asked, pressing his finger to the window directing at the house which was indeed john's.

john hummed again, going to join freddie at the window.  
"thought so. i saw you in that window once."

all the blood drained from john's face and his heart beat went up at least a thousand beats. his breathing also became shallower and he tried so hard to cover his intense reaction.

i bet freddie has seen me staring at him and writing about him in my bloody journal. god i look like a right fucking stalker. i never saw him look up at my window, though? maybe it was when he was sat with julie. oh god oh god oh god oh god.

"w-what?"  
"i wasn't stalking you or anything darling-"  
yeah but i technically was.  
"- i just happened to look out of my window one day and you were there." freddie laughed, holding his hands up in surrender.

"oh okay." john nodded, returning to his place on the (perhaps the most comfortable he had ever sat on in his life) sofa. 

freddie decided to completely dismiss the awkward chat that happened moments before, instead hitting john with the classic question, "so, tell me about yourself?"

"there's not much to say. i'm very boring." john laughed awkwardly, reverting to playing with his fingers.  
"oh i don't believe that for a second!" john knew he'd say that. the younger boy sighed and rested his chin on his hand. 

"really. i know loads of people say that but they have incredible life stories but mine is the complete opposite." he insisted. freddie looked shocked and even a little sad at john's reply.

"again, i don't believe that for a second. tell me something about you, john. johnny. deakster. deaky." 

john was laughing along with freddie at the nicknames. he had never been given a nickname before. it felt nice. it felt good.  
"deaky?" he giggled, to which freddie nodded and leant back into the sofa, seemingly very proud of himself.

"mhm. i like it, don't you?"  
john nodded slowly. "i guess. i've never had a nickname before." he admitted, blushing a little and looking down at his feet.

"well, i'm happy to have changed that, deaky." the elder boy laughed, john joining in with him.

john liked freddie. he obviously couldn't help the uneasiness he still felt due to being around a near enough stranger in their house, but he hoped that uneasiness would settle soon enough.

"okay, why don't we play a little game, yeah? that way you don't have to think loads about yourself, you can just give quickfire answers and boom, ill know more about you." freddie offered, and john thought this over. he noticed a little fault in freddie's 'game' and he brought it up.

"what about you? can i ask questions about you?"  
"why of course darling! you go first, if that makes you more comfortable." 

john was grateful for that. but now he had to think up a question. he wasn't very creative when it came to these sort of things.

"okay...what's your full name?"  
"which one? my real name or my other name?" freddie winked.  
"hit me with both." john chuckled.  
"well, dear, my birth name is farrokh bulsara, but my current name is freddie bulsara. but, im gonna change it to freddie mercury when im 18."

that was alot of information for john to take in, but he managed to catch it all. freddie was surely a character. he was practically perfect. he had the most wonderful accent which was quite posh but some words still had an indian twang. he reminded himself to ask freddie some questions about his backstory. 

"okay, my turn... let's start with the basics, yes? what's your full name?"  
"john richard deacon." easy enough.

"where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" john asked, nervous that freddie would take offence.  
"of course not, darling. i was born in zanzibar and got sent to boarding school in india when i was 7. i learnt most of my english there. and then me and my family moved here in '64 due to the revolution back home. it was too unsafe to go back and now here we are." despite that, freddie was smiling. it was almost impossible to feel sad around freddie. he just had this aura of happiness that john wished he could have. he was sure his 'aura' just consisted of sadness and anxiety.

"wow. you've had a rather interesting life, then?" john joked, and thankfully freddie giggled with him.  
"mhm, you could say that. anyways, my turn!"

there was a minute of silence as freddie thought about what he wanted his question to be. 

"what are you studying?" freddie asked. thank god, john thought. these are questions i can handle. 

"electrical engineering. i like to tinker. and you?"  
"art and graphic design. i like to think im rather creative." freddie told him, tilting his head back to swish about his lovely, dark hair, coming back with a smirk.

"you're definitely creative. i like your style. its rather exotic."  
"thank you darling!"  
"no problem"

john had a tiny little feeling that he would get along with this freddie. 

♛

"tell me all about it! was he as bad as he looked?" julie practically jumped on john the moment she walked through the door. she smelt a little like cider but nothing too drastic. she probably had a single can of strongbow, if that. john knew she hated drinking too much because of how their dad got after a few too many. she had never drank more than two pints.

john shook his head laughing. "it wasn't even him. come upstairs and i'll tell you." john whispered to her, seeing that his dad was home, talking to his mum in the kitchen. julie nodded and followed him upstairs to his bedroom.

"so," she started, and john prepared himself for the thousands of questions. "who was he?" 

before john answered, he went to get his leather journal which he kept in his underwear, all the way at the bottom (nobody would ever look there, that way it was perfectly hidden). julie just waited patiently on john's bed, taking a sip of the old water on the bedside table, grimacing at the weird taste.

john retrieved his journal and joined his sister on his bed. he flicked to the two page spread on freddie, set it down in front of her and pointed at it. she looked confused.

"it was him. that's the boy that lives over the road, not the wanker on the other side." 

the gasp that julie let out nearly deafened him and she enveloped him in a hug. he was puzzled at his sister's reaction but hugged her back nonetheless. 

"was he nice then? did you tell him about the journal?"  
"no! of course i didn't, i'm not stupid. didn't really fancy him thinking i was a crazed stalker on the first day. and yes, he's lovely. really sweet. we talked and by the end i didn't feel nearly as anxious as i did when i walked in."

julie was so happy for her brother. it pained her to see him locked in his bedroom everyday. sure, veronica came over some days when their parents were out but it was no longer than an hour. julie had once offered to introduce him to her friends because she just couldn't stand how lonely he was, but he nearly had a panic attack at the thought so she let it slide.

"im happy for you john, i really am. it's about time you got out the bloody house and got a social life," she joked, proceeding to lie down on the bed.

john poked her in the ribs. he knew she was right. it felt like a breath of fresh air leaving the house, pun intended. although it was still a little nerve-racking, for once in his life john was looking forward to going out and seeing his new friend.

two hours passed and john was getting tired, so he politely asked julie to leave and started getting dressed into his pyjamas. he had suddenly realised that he hadn't done any writing in a long while, so he grabbed his journal and sat on the beloved spot on the window sill.

he peered down at the dark street being lit up gracefully by the street lamps. even when there were no people out to look at, he enjoyed just staring at the empty roads. it was comforting somehow. 

his eyes then drifted to freddie's house. the bottom floor was totally dark but there was a single light coming from a room on the top floor. he remembered freddie suggesting that was his room considering he had seen him sitting in the window before. john wondered if freddie was still awake. quite likely, he thought. it's not exactly late.

john kinda wanted freddie to open the curtains and look back at him and wave. even if it was just for a second. now that he had spoken to someone other than his family and veronica he had realised just how lonely he was before. he couldn't imagine being stuck in this quiet room all day long. he felt like he had wasted so much of his life. if it weren't for my mum begging me to meet freddie, i'd probably live my life as a shut in forever.

and then, the curtains were moved and freddie was sitting on his own window sill. john laughed. how ridiculous. it's like he was in a fucking rom-com.

freddie hadn't noticed him yet, at least john didn't think he did. so, john got to his journal. but he didn't write this time. he drew.

he tried to draw freddie from memory because he couldn't exactly see all of his facial features from across the street. he drew freddie's incredible facial structure and his prominent cheek bones. his slightly puffy and hair-sprayed dark hair and his thin nose. and his extra long eyelashes.  
john did a little art in school but he never considered himself an artist. he had drew a couple things which he was proud of, all of them of people actually. he had drew a close up of marilyn monroe for his art project two years ago and he got an A**...

john looked up from his drawing for a brief moment to then see freddie looking at him, waving so hard and so fast john was wondering how he hadn't sprained his wrist. john just smiled awkwardly, raising his write hand and shaking it slowly as if to say 'hello' back. freddie then broke out into the biggest grin john had ever seen. as freddie's smile was somehow contagious, john extended his small grin to a toothy beam reaching both of his eyes. freddie seemed to like it as he started laughing.

john decided to be a little cheeky and he stuck his tongue out which seemed to surprise freddie a lot.  
freddie then left the window without a second glance which made john nearly burst out into tears. he had just left him? was he not interesting enough? did freddie not want to be friends with him? great, he hadn't even known him for a day and he'd already given up on him. john should have known freddie was way too interesting and quirky and perfect for him.

he left the window too, and went to settle back into his warm bed. before he could do so, however, there was a hard tap at his window. once. twice. three times.  
john wanted to check it out and returned back to the window, opening it and looking down at the ground. there stood freddie with a handful of small pebbles.

"freddie! are you fucking crazy? you could have broken the glass!" john whisper-yelled. the both of them were taken aback at john's use of the f-word.  
"it's the thought that counts!" freddie protested. john could hear he was grinning and he wanted to slap that smile off of his face. 

"what are you doing here?" he asked his new friend, who just shrugged.  
"i don't know, actually. d'you wanna come around to mine? mum's out visiting my nana with my dad. won't be back till tomorrow." he asked and john nearly choked. 

"i-i don't know freddie, it's late and we-we don't know each other that well." the younger boy protested, sliding his hand through his hair, ruffling it a bit. if this were anybody else, john would have probably had a panic attack, but freddie made everything weirdly comfortable and at ease.

"then this is the perfect opportunity to get to know eachother more! c'mon johnny, be rebellious."

the next thing john knew he was crossing the road with freddie, heading towards his house.

♛

"i can only stay for like twenty minutes, freddie." the younger boy muttered as they strolled through the hallway in freddie's home, heading towards the stairs and finally freddie's bedroom. 

"awh can't you stay the night, deaks?" he asked with a smile in his tone, but they both knew he was genuinely asking. john couldn't, however, as he had school the next day. they both did. 

"no, freddie. twenty minutes."  
"i'll make you change your mind, darling, just you watch."  
john didn't exactly know what that meant but he decided to just shrug and go along with it. 

"voila! the chamber of mercury!" freddie announced as the two of them set foot in his room. john giggled and stood in the doorway awkwardly.  
"well aren't you going to come in, dear?" he wondered. john quickly shook his head and stepped forward, admiring the room.

"this is much bigger than my room." john told him, settling on freddie's bed.  
john gasped. "oh my god this is the comfiest bed i've ever sat on."  
"it comes in handy at times." freddie winked, leaving a blushing john and a tension in the room.

"oh... have you..?"  
"not yet, surprisingly. waiting for the right person."  
"oh... me too, i guess."  
"hmm," freddie nodded, agreeing with him.

"tell me about yourself, deaky."  
"oh here we go again!" john laughed, slapping his palm on his forehead in embarrassment. freddie let out a howl of laughter before taking john's hand and taking it off his face. 

"c'mon! you hardly spoke about yourself! i know there's more to you, pretty."  
john blushed again. he seemed to be turning scarlet a lot around his new friend. he didn't exactly dislike the feeling, he rather enjoyed it, but it didn't stop him from feeling awfully shy.

"don't pretend like you don't know you're pretty, honey." the elder boy winked. john just turned even more red. "shut up, freddie."

freddie decided to leave it and he moved onto the questions instead.  
"tell me about your family or something."  
"oh.. okay," john started thinking. he didn't really know what to say except the solid truth. and so he went with that.

"my mother is my rock, a true angel. she's been there for me through thick and thin. really. she's a sweetheart," - freddie flashed a huge grin at this. he thought john's mom was a sweetheart, too. such a lovely woman.  
"my sister is my polar opposite but she's my best friend. the only thing that's similar about us is that we look a little alike. she's everything i'm not. confident. social. you know,"

"my dads a total drunk. treats us all like crap but i don't like to speak about him much. it's hard enough seeing him everyday." john chuckled, but there was nothing funny in it. freddie just placed a comforting hand on john's crossed knee for which he was very thankful for.

"now tell me about you."!  
"i honestly don't know what to say."  
"why do you sit in that window all day?"

john gulped. wow, he was really stuck now, wasn't he? what should he say? should he tell freddie the truth or just say something like 'i dunno. just do'.  
no, he'd never fall for that. freddie wasn't stupid. anything but. john concluded that he had grown tired of lying and hiding and everything, and so he decided to let it all out.

"i look at people on the street and write little life stories about them based on their characters. i write them all in a little journal. it calms me, i guess? gives me something to do at least."

freddie looked at him with something john couldn't really explain. it seemed like a mix of wonder and awe but john didn't want to fool himself into thinking freddie didn't find him crazy even a little.

"that's so interesting, johnny. i love it. how many have you written?" freddie answering, placing his chin in his hands, still staring at the boy sat in front of him.

"wait, you don't think i'm crazy?" - john could have screamed with joy. he had really expected freddie to stand up, call him a freak and kick him out.

but then again, how could he ever think that of freddie? freddie was much too kind, much too gentle, much too wonderful. 

"of course i don't, honey. who put that silly idea in your head?"  
john looked down at his lap and shrugged.  
"nobody, i guess. never really talked to anyone much except you and my sister."  
john didn't want freddie to pity him, that was the last thing he wanted. he wanted to be treated as an equal, like he was being treated now. but that didn't stop from agreeing to a huggle when freddie offered it.

"i haven't really left my house except for school in like five years." john admitted as freddie threaded his fingers through his long, wavy locks. freddie hummed in response, a gentle sound which made john relax in his arms.

"and why's that?"  
john sighed. "i don't know. i've always been really nervous and anxious. i had a panic attack when julie offered to introduce me to her group of friends." the younger boy laughed through his nose, looking back on how ridiculously stupid he was. 

"well, i'm flattered that you agreed to introduce yourself to me."  
"let's be honest, freddie. you introduced yourself to me. you had to coax a 'hello' out of me." john chuckled, the vibration almost warming freddie up. the older boy couldn't really explain it.

"you were just fine. i like a man with a little shyness." freddie whispered, making john shudder. 

john couldn't say he was surprised that freddie wasn't straight. he looked utterly fabulous all day every day. he dressed in things straight men wouldn't have the balls to try. he also had this gay vibe which john completely understood since he had the vibe himself according to veronica. and julie. 

john couldn't help but turn as red as a tomato at freddie's comment. he would be lying if he said he wasn't even a little attracted to freddie, because he was. who wouldn't be? he was perfect, inside and out. 

two could play at that game.  
"why? must make it harder to get into their pants." john retorted with a grin. 

freddie gasped and howled with laughter. john noticed freddie brung his hand up to cover his mouth almost as soon as he opened it, which confused john. 

"why'd you do that?" he asked, scooting away from freddie a little so he could see his face fully. freddie's hand was still covering his mouth. john took it and pulled it away calmly.

"covers my teeth when i laugh." he replied, as if he was stating the obvious.  
"but why? what's wrong with your teeth?"  
"oh honey, don't be silly. they're huge. gigantic. i hate them, they're disgusting."

john felt as if someone had just stabbed him in the chest one hundred times. hearing freddie speaking negatively about himself physically pained him. it didn't sit well with john at all, and he was going to make sure that freddie never spoke in such a way about himself ever again, especially when he was with him.

"they're nothing of the sort!" john sat up, still facing freddie. "i like your teeth. they suit you. it makes you unique and i love that." 

john didn't expect freddie to tear up at that and then continue to envelope him in the tightest hug ever. he was surprised he wasn't suffocating. maybe it was because he enjoyed every second. it didn't take him long to wrap his arms around the other boy in return.

"you're the sweetest, john. thank you. i'm so glad our parents forced us to be friends." freddie joked, his laugh shaking his body as well as john's.

"me too. finally got me out the house which i'm thankful for." john returned the joke but freddie just leaned back from the hug, putting a strand of hair behind john's hair. 

"i'm thankful too, darling."  
and then, freddie placed possibly the softest and sweetest kiss on john's forehead.  
"it's been twenty minutes, off home you pop." 

♛

"oh boys! he's perfect. the cutest ever. i just want to squish him and never let go!" freddie cried as he met with his two best friends, roger and brian, at the lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria.

"looks like freddie's got a little crush," roger laughed, taking a sip from his carton of chocolate milk.

"oh i have, darling. you should see him. absolutely adorable." he sighed, placing his chin in his hand and staring off into the background, dreamily, thinking of john.

"you gonna do anything about it?" brian tuned up, pocking freddie's wrist.

freddie didn't say anything apart from a gentle hum of 'mhm'.

♛

"ronnie, he's practically perfect. he's too good for me," john whispered to his other best friend, veronica, both of them huddled up on his bed in the small bedroom.

"oh don't be silly, john. tell that little anxious voice in your head to shut the fuck up and do something about your man," veronica flicked his forehead, which john rubbed and scowled at.

"he's not 'my man'. i hate that term. i just like him a lot but i wish i could just work up the courage to say something. we've only known each other for three days!" the nervous boy exclaimed, his worries building up as the minutes passed.

"look-" ronnie whispered, placing a hand on john's back and rubbing carefully in circles to calm him down. she knew what he got like when he got too worked up.  
"i'm sure he feels the same wa-"  
"but he doesn't, ronnie!" john nearly screamed. veronica just carried on rubbing his back.

"and how do you know that? has he said that to your face? from the things you've told me about last night, he'd be leading you on an insane amount if he didn't actually like you."

john knew he was over reacting just a little. veronica was right, too. if it turned out freddie didn't like him that way, then he had done a pretty good job on leading him on. john was a vulnerable person. it didn't take long for someone to get on his good side and then drag him down drastically. that's one of the reasons why john was so hesitant in meeting new people and making new friends. he had made an exception for freddie, and if it was destined to crash and burn, john just knew he'd never even set foot in public again, never mind make new friends.

"you're never gonna get any answers if you don't talk to him about this, john. kick that anxiety in the ass and do something about this before you lose him forever. you'll regret it for the rest of your life, trust me."

damn, veronica was possibly the wisest person john had ever met.

♛

"i asked jer if it was okay if you had a sleepover with freddie tonight and she's perfectly fine with it, honey." lillian announced suddenly as she was dishing up pasta bake for dinner. john almost choked.

"you what?" he cried, confusing both his mum and sister who were sat at the dinner table. arthur was on a late shift so he wouldn't be back till 1am. 

john's mum frowned, hands on her hips. "don't you want to? i thought you liked freddie? aren't you too friends?"

"no, no it's not that mum, me and freddie are friends, it's just you could have run this by me before, don't you think?"  
he could see julie smirking in the corner of his eye. it physically hurt him to resist from giving her the middle finger but he pulled through.

"freddie seemed awfully excited about it, sweetie, so it'll be fine."  
john blushed at that but got startled when his sister nudged him under the table. he looked over to her to see her putting the tips of her two pointer fingers together. he kicked her back. hard.

however, the fact that freddie was excited about seeing john again made his stomach twist and flip ten thousand times.

"oh, okay." john replied, sticking his fork into his pasta bake and filling his mouth. he needed to prepare himself for his first ever sleepover.

♛

"so glad you could make it darling! i was beginning to think you'd forgot about me!" freddie feigned sadness whilst also accompanying it with a cheeky wink. john giggled and settled his night bag on the floor besides freddie's bed. 

"you're not exactly someone easy to forget, freddie." john's shy voice replied. "i'll never forget you, mr mercury."

freddie just quirked a smile and walked over to his friend and hugged him tightly. the sudden display of affection startled john at first, but after five seconds or so he melted into freddie's embrace, the thought of letting go not settling well with him.

"i'm so glad you came, johnny. honestly. you're my bestest friend ever."  
john was confused at this. "what about that blonde boy i saw you walking with?" he asked, facing towards freddie.

"oh, roger? i love that twink with all my heart, but you have a special place. you're different from all my other friends, johnny."  
john's tummy exploded with millions of butterflies to the point where he almost toppled to the ground. freddie's words struck a cord in him. he wanted to be wild, adventurous, not the usual boring, prudish boy he was the majority of the time. and so he pushed himself just that little tiny bit.

"you have a special place in here too, freddie-" john placed his palm over his heart.  
"you're also my bestest friend. sure, i have veronica, but nobody can compare to you."

freddie knew exactly where this was going to head, so he kissed john lightly on the forehead and stepped away.

after they had sorted out sleeping arrangements, freddie being on the floor and john on his bed (despite the many protests from the younger boy), they started talking about things to do. they went through the clichè's, truth or dare (which freddie had to admit, he desperately wanted to play), board games such as guess who etc.. 

they settled on watching a film, a black and white one due to freddie's convincing speech on how black and white films were not only better than colour films, but how they also held so much more depth and meaning and it was fun to figure out the motives and morals.

it happened one night is one of freddie's all time favourite films. every time he watched it he cried happy tears. it was just the right amount of humour and romance merged into one.

"clark gable is also devastatingly handsome. good god i've had some thoughts about that man." freddie said, in the midst of his dreamworld. john snorted with laughter, hitting his new friend softly on the shoulder.

but then, john tilted his head at the flickering screen and took a closer look at the actor.  
"you know what? i have to agree. he is beautiful, isn't he?" john whispered and freddie squealed. 

john was thoroughly enjoying every moment of the film. he was now adamant that black and white films were in-fact much better than colour films. he watched claudette colbert being wrapped up in hay by the one and only clark gable on the small television screen. the room was silent, both boys engrossed with the film. 

however, as their eyes were following the screen as clark gable ranted about how much he detested the woman and then suddenly shouting out his love for her, freddie's head leaned on john's ever so delicately. john snuggled into the older boy, enjoying the warmth and comfort he provided. whenever freddie was around he felt the most powerful sense of warmth that he was sure he could drown in it if he allowed himself to. it was intoxicating and john couldn't get enough of it.

"you're always so warm," he whispered, eyes still focused on the screen.  
"you're always so cold. i like to warm you up." he retorted.  
that statement tugged on john's heartstrings. he was always so cold. before freddie, his life was just filled with frost and the complete opposite of warmth and it was taking a while for his body to get used to the heat he felt when next to freddie.

"i don't think i've ever been warm." john admitted.  
"and why's that?"  
"i couldn't tell you. nobody was there to warm me up, i guess. until you, obviously. i didn't know any one. i didn't allow myself to know anyone and so i just settled on being cold 24/7"

freddie's heart was on the verge of breaking. he took john into his embrace and smothered his cheek into his hair, adoring the feeling of john's fluffy locks against the side of his face.  
"well, john, my darling. i'll always be here to warm you up. you know where i am. the minute you begin to feel cold, you come to me, okay?"

john nodded. "okay."  
the conversation seemed to have taken a deeper turn. john wasn't aware of when the term 'cold' meant something along the line of 'lonely, anxious, depressed as fuck', but now he knew he had freddie to go to when he was feeling lonely, anxious and depressed as fuck. and that reassurance of comfort was the greatest thing john had ever felt in his life.

the end credits of the film started rolling. a smile was present on both of their faces at the happy and humorous ending. 

"i'm tempted to make my own wall of jericho between us tonight. i loved it. you have great taste in films, freddie." john complimented, taking his socks off and placing them into his overnight bag. 

"i haven't got any rope, sadly. quite a shame, actually. could have come in handy," the raven haired boy winked, and the younger lad blushed furiously. he was now the human version of an incredibly ripe tomato.  
"and i'm so glad you liked it. i won't lie to you, i was fretting that you wouldn't like it at all and i'd have to dump you right then and there."

"wow, so you'd just dump me if i didn't have the same movie taste as you?"

freddie thought about this long and hard.

"on second thoughts, it would hurt way too much to let you go, dearest, so no, i wouldn't have dumped you. might have just put you in your place and opened your eyes to see the loveliness of black and white cinema."

john smiled and shook his head bashfully.  
"i'm gonna go get changed... where's the bathroom?"

"down the hall and first on your left." freddie replied, walking over to his own wardrobe to retrieve his own set of pajamas. john nodded and headed towards said bathroom.

as the younger boy reached the room, his face heated up with embarrassment almost immediately as he remembered which pajamas he had packed. he had just thrown his things into his bag without a second thought and he was regretting that heavily at this moment in time.

they were baby blue with little rubber ducks all over them. great, john thought sarcastically.

however, it was amazing how his confidence levels rose up drastically whenever he was around freddie. it was like magic, truly. one word out of the older boy's soft mouth could soothe john's worries and concerns in an instant, and he adored that feeling.

john had never had these butterflies over anybody before. they were intense, like they were knocking into his belly thousands of times, over and over again, making him want to clutch his stomach and blush like mad. it was a nice feeling, though, and he didn't want to think about not feeling these intrusive butterflies. he had gotten used to them anyways, having them present almost always when accompanied by freddie.

he didn't really look too much into this, however. he found a new friend, best friend even, and that was rare. of course he was going to feel all giddy. it was a change. a nice change.

he slipped on his pajamas and headed back to the room. 

to make john's problem for blushing 24/7 even worse, he forgot to knock on his friend's bedroom door, and he was presented to the sight of freddie pulling up his pajama trousers, and he was most definitely not wearing any underwear.

john kind of just stood there, eyes wide and mouth wide open. he could have died in that very moment. but, the thing that confused him the most was the rush of heat that flew to his head at the sight of freddie's arse.

"oh bloody hell, darling, i didn't see you there. i almost shit myself!" the older boy shrieked but still managed a laugh, which john returned. it seemed like all the tension had evaporated suddenly and both blushing boys were grateful for that.

john approached the bed slowly. "you sure you don't mind sharing? i can take the sofa downstairs if you like, i don't mind."  
john did mind, but he didn't want to seem rude. he was secretly screaming with happiness at the thought of sharing a bed with freddie, having his warmth envelope him all night long.

"oh don't be silly, i'm loving the thought of sharing a bed with you," he winked, and john fell into the bed with a long sigh, smashing his face into the pillow.

he took a long inhale. so this is what freddie smelt like without perfumes and cologne. john got drunk on the scent, which smelt of what can only be described as manly... with a slight tinge of cigarettes. yes, john could most definitely get used to this.

"inhale anymore and you'll faint!"  
"i'm okay with that." john mumbled into the pillow.  
freddie just hummed in response and laid down beside john. 

"i'm glad i met you, johnny" he whispered. john took his head out from the pillow and casted his eyes upon the boy who lay next to him. his dark hair was spread out on the pillows like chocolate and the moonlight reflected on his slightly darker skin. he was beautiful.

"i'm glad i met you too, freddie." 

and then john did something which shocked him to the core. he leant closer to freddie, placed a kiss on his cheek and shuffled his body closer, shoving his face into his neck. his excuse was being too cold, but he knew the real reason why.

john was starting to catch little tiny feelings for the boy he hadn't even known for a week and that thought scared him but also put his mind at ease. he made a mental note to thank his mother for persuading him to meet the outrageous individual who lived across the road.

**Author's Note:**

> hello!!  
welcome to my first fanfiction, It’s Nice To Have A Friend...  
i really hope you enjoyed this first chapter, which was longer than i first anticipated but... here ya go!
> 
> QUESTION: i know that this chapter didn’t really have that much romance like kissing, which would be incredibly annoying to myself as a reader, so would you guys like to see a second chapter? it would take a while to upload since i want to write at least 10k words for it to satisfy you all...  
anyways, let me know!
> 
> all my love,  
hestia


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